Spring
Came Quickly!
It's
hard to imagine that Spring is here already! The calendar says
that Winter has past, but I don't even remember it.
Maybe it's
a "senior" thing.

What I do know is that we really have to kick
it to get ahead of the growing season. The bahia and weeds on phase
II of the Trail that had been eliminated are coming back. Also,
the 500 scrub oaks on the tarp are ready to be planted, but that
can't be done until the irrigation is in. I guess if we didn't
love what we're doing, it would be called "work".

As
a part of the recognition program for the work being done by the
NWF Habitat Stewards,
Gregory Territo, a well accomplished snake expert gave
a fascinating overview of venomous and non-venomous snakes of Florida.
Don’t know for sure if we’re any more comfortable around
a diamondback rattler, but we know a lot more about them at least.
Gregory brought a Ball Python and a Hog-Nosed snake with him for
everyone to handle.

Following the snake show, a sumptuous barbecue
feast was followed by Stuart Hall, K.Z. Zuckerman and Vic
DiGiorno, the Scrub-Jay Trail “House Band” providing
hours of their brand of really great music and fun. A great time
was had by all.

During an intermission break, we took time to
recognize all the hard work being done by all of you. Our thanks
again to those who gave up so much of your time to make this event
go so smoothly.

We
were then treated to a tremendous surprise by Mike and
Jacki Osbun, who presented the Scrub-Jay Trail with a
museum quality framing of the original artwork donated earlier
by cartoonist Jack Elrod.This Mark Trail strip appeared in papers
across the nation.
Thanks again Osbuns!

On
Monday, March 10, Habitat Stewards joined up with fifty second
and third grade students and their teachers for the design and
installation of a Wildlife
Habitat Garden at Pine Ridge Elementary School on CR
561 in Clermont.

Over 60 plants donated by B.B.Brown's Gardens,
were planted by the students. Upon completion,
a sign and a certificate
were presented to the school's Principal, Ms.
Cindy Kinat and the teachers Amanda Borysiewcz, Whitney
Kreiling and Ginger Bidwell, which
recognizes the garden as an officially certified National Wildlife
Federation Schoolyard Habitat.

Rumor has it that Bunny Judy Clark probably
has some kind of treat for us, but we'll have to wait and see.
As usual, please feel free to contribute any kind of themed delights
for the table.
Please let us know if you're coming so we'll know
how much Easter Quiche to prepare.

As far as "work" is concerned,
there's a lot of dead dog fennel on the Trail
that has to be removed. Rakes and hoes will do the job with the
goal being to clear an area that would be the location for a demonstration "pod" planting
on Phase I of the Trail. This pod, or island if you will, will
be the planting model for Phase II of the Trail.

We look forward
to seeing you all again and hope that you have a Happy
Easter.